Paid to travel? Taiwan may pay international tourists to visit soon

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story said the payment to international tourists has been approved. This has been corrected.

MANILA, Philippines – Revenge travel season doesn’t get any better than this! Taiwan’s government is considering the tourism bureau’s plans to provide monetary allowances to international tourists, as reported by Taipei Times on February 23.

The proposal is an allowance of NT$5,000 per person (approximately P9,000) will be given to 500,000 tourists when they travel to the country, as a way to boost Taiwan’s tourism.

Additionally, those traveling in groups can also receive cash incentives from the government. Groups of 8 to 14 tourists can receive NT$10,000 (around P17,900), and groups with more members can receive NT$20,000 (around P35,800). Up to 90,000 groups can enjoy the allowances.

Tourists chosen to have allowances will receive the amount upon arriving in Taiwan. Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung explained that the stipend will be provided digitally.

“It will be stored in an electronic ticketing card, which can be used to pay for food, accommodation, and other travel expenses during their time here,” Chang said.

Chang noted that the money will not be given all at once to travelers but will be distributed throughout multiple tourism promotion events.  

The bureau’s plans are in line with Taiwan’s goal of boosting tourism, with a target of welcoming 6 million international visitors in 2023. The program has an allocated budget of NT$5.3 billion (P9.5 billion). The bureau is primarily targeting to attract tourists from Japan, South Korea, Europe, and North America. 

Filipinos are also qualified to receive the incentives as the program covers countries under Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. Other eligible countries include Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and many more. 

On Friday afternoon, March 3, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines told Rappler that as of this writing, the proposal was still under review and has not been finalized yet. The official guidelines will be posted on its official website once confirmed. – with reports from Charlene Enriquez/Rappler.com

Charlene Enriquez is a Rappler intern.